Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“This is the last thing I wanted. The very last thing.” Roman banged his fist against the wall in Harper’s bedroom as she gently set her hand on his back and made what she hoped were soothing circles over his trembling muscles.
“I know this can’t be easy given how hard you worked to keep me from him. At least he agreed to let Finn go as my bodyguard.”
For consistency’s sake, as well as to avoid suspicion, they’d opted to play off of their original cover story for Barcelona with Finn as her security detail.
Roman remained quiet, most likely spinning out. Trying to get a handle on his emotions after spending years doing his best to safeguard both his thoughts and feelings from everyone.
There were moments last year, mostly when they were intimate, so raw and intense, so overwhelmingly powerful that Roman couldn’t help but let her in. Those were some of Harper’s most cherished memories of their time together, the ones where she felt their connection deep in her soul.
“Will people buy the new you? Will they believe you finally assumed the role as heir to the Riviera empire?” she asked, the rise and fall of his back finally evening out as he regained control.
She hoped to ensnare his uncle somehow, to tie him to their current case. Give the U.S. government a reason to go after him and have Luciano become their next assignment after handling Will Hobbs and his traitorous team of special operators. Preferably at the same time.
Will must have stashed a pile of cash somewhere before he was locked up that was never found, or how else would he fund his elaborate plan to destroy the teams? Based on her research, Talon Fox’s services weren’t cheap. Friend or not. But was he a murdering psychopath? That felt like a stretch.
If Talon was the shooter, and the plan had been to wound rather than kill Knox, then Talon must have been pretty confident in his marksmanship skills to pull that off.
As the seconds dragged by and she waited for Roman to answer her question, Harper squeezed her eyes shut and thought back to the case file on the Monaco operation, the op that led to Will’s arrest. She vaguely recalled the day last year when Roman had caught her in the copy room at Scott & Scott, reading the file.
He’d startled her, and the file had fallen to the floor.
And after that, it was hard to remember anything other than when he’d set her on the copy machine and kissed her.
How did you set this all up, Will? Did a guard let him make a call or send Talon an email?
“People will believe I’m joining him if Luciano says it’s so, but he’ll test me in front of others to see how I handle myself.” He slowly turned, and his sorrowful gaze had her body going weak.
“How does he have so much power, and yet, that vigilante organization is unaware of his dark side?” Dark side? Am I in a Star Wars movie?
“It’s possible Emilia did have suspicions.
Hell, maybe that was why she’d been at my cousin Rosario’s wedding years ago when we first met, and after we became friends, she stopped looking into my uncle.
” He fell quiet for a moment, probably working through his thoughts.
“But also, my uncle makes sure he never gets his hands dirty. He operates from the shadows. And his so-called business deals with other companies that are fronts for mobs and such? Not a thread can be found that would tie them to Luciano.”
Shadows. She knew a thing or two about them. Roman’s past had been following him like one, and same with hers. But they were finally facing everything head-on. Moving forward. They’d reclaim their lives.
“My uncle didn’t randomly choose South Africa as the place to arrange a meeting with the shooter. He says he has business there, and I’m assuming that business will involve me.”
Ah, this was news he’d held back and probably contemplated sharing. He needed to break his habit of keeping secrets for the sake of her safety.
“Will he make you kill or do something that, um, you can’t ever come back from?”
He cleared his throat as if buying himself time to answer. “All I know is that we need Luciano for the plan to work.”
“And then we tie Luciano to our case to make him a mark of the U.S. government so we can obtain orders to go after him . . . right?” she rambled in a rush, desperation in her voice.
“That’s still the plan. I need to hear you say it.
” She grabbed hold of his shirt, feeling a little crazy, but the way he was looking at her, she was afraid he was on the verge of going lone wolf again, breaking away from the teams because he thought it was what was best. You know, habits.
But no, what was best was that they stuck together.
His silence was going to be what killed her, not his uncle.
“You were willing to die to take him down and keep us out of it. Or go to prison for whatever you had to do. I can’t raise the dead, but you better believe I can plan a prison break if it comes to that.
” She fisted his shirt even tighter. “There’s only one way out of this mess.
One way, you hear me? We walk out of it together, Roman. ”
She released her grip and started to turn away out of frustration, but he spun her back around with a hand on her waist before snatching hold of her arms and drawing her near.
He held her there, face to face, quietly observing her, his breath floating so close she felt the warmth of it on her lips.
His dark gaze dropped to her mouth for a second before his tormented eyes found hers again.
She wanted to cry. Scream. But mostly, she wanted to kiss him.
And if he kept peering at her with that tortured look instead of acting on whatever he was feeling, she just might lose her mind for good this time. No need to hit her head on a curb.
He cupped her chin in his large hand, still holding her bicep with the other.
The man had restraint. A lot of it. More than she had. And that was to be expected of a Tier One operator, but right now, regardless of the shit storm they were in, she didn’t want him in control.
“Harper,” he said, his voice so rough with emotion she’d swear the air crackled between them. “After . . . after this is over, if it works out—”
“It will work out.” She wouldn’t survive any other option.
“I need you to accept there’s a chance something could go wrong,” he continued anyway. “Prepare for it.” His brows knitted and a tender look filled his eyes. A mixture of love sullied by a hint of fear.
“I can’t prepare for losing you.” Shaking her head, she pulled away only to back into the wall, blocking her attempt at a retreat from the harsh possibility he’d presented.
“I accepted our breakup last year because I thought I’d still have you in my life as a friend.
But not to have you in my life at all is unacceptable.
” More desperation flooded her tone, and her shoulders began to tremble.
She was on the verge of another ugly cry.
“Well, I never accepted our breakup.” The deep timbre of his voice had her stomach fluttering. He took one step forward, set his hand on the wall above her shoulder, and angled his head before pinning her with his dark eyes. “How could I?”
She wet her lips, dying for him to kiss her and take away her pain. “Promise me you won’t kill your uncle,” she pleaded, knowing he was sucked into her orbit right now, and maybe, just maybe, she’d get him to agree.
“I can’t. Not if it’s a choice between you or him.” His words gently hummed against her lips but were quickly replaced by a desperate growl as he crushed his mouth to hers.
She moaned in soft surrender, giving in to his kiss and touch.
His tongue swirled with hers, so slow it was torturous, so erotic it was almost more than she could bear.
Unable to stop herself, she rotated her hips, desperate to feel him, knowing he had to be hard. And he brought his groin to hers, realizing what she wanted, and oh God . . .
Her desire burned hot and fierce, so much so she only faintly heard the bedroom door open. Had there even been a knock?
“Bloody hell. Sorry.”
Wyatt? She didn’t know. Didn’t care.
Roman didn’t acknowledge the voice or the door closing again, either.
His hand went to her hip, securing her body against the wall, and he kept kissing her as if she were bringing him back to life.
It felt like they were coming to the end of a journey, one that’d been filled with heartbreak, but the way had been paved for them to find a new path. A better one that was solid and wouldn’t fail them no matter what happened.
“Harper. Oh, fuck. Harper,” he murmured between kisses. “God, I love you so much.” He kept on kissing her as if he hadn’t realized he’d dropped the L word for the first time.
And in a daze, she wondered if she’d imagined it because she couldn’t rip her hands from where they splayed across his hard chest.
His palms slid beneath her top, and he pulled the cups of her bra down to palm her breasts.
“Guys,” someone called out, and from the sounds of it, they stood on the other side of the closed door. “Sorry, but we need you.”
No. She wanted to stay sheltered in this intense moment with the man she loved, the man who, if she hadn’t hallucinated, finally told her he loved her.
Roman hissed between kisses like a warning for whoever was there to back off.
He was tearing through the pages of every one of her emotions with this moment as he continued holding her, making love to her with his mouth.
She was going to orgasm from just the feel of his palms caressing her heavy breasts and his tongue continuing its dance with hers. The tune was just faster now. Heavier beats than the original slow rhythm.
“Roman. Harper.” That was definitely Wyatt, right?
“We, um,” she said between kisses, “have to stop.”
“No.” But Roman released her breasts, then captured her face between his palms. “I can’t lose you again.”
Her heart shattered. Exploded into a million little pieces, like the dots in the painting in the other room. But she knew he’d put it back together. She trusted him. Even after he’d revealed his secrets, her trust in him was unwavering. He was nothing like Brandon.
“You won’t lose me,” she said as tears began to glide down her cheeks.
He shifted his mouth to her cheek and gently kissed away the teardrops.
“You promise?” he asked, setting his forehead to hers and clutching her tightly.
She grabbed hold of his biceps as he held her there, and the painful break in his voice threatened to set her tears flowing again. The fear he still had when it came to her safety, to the idea of losing her . . .
“I promise,” she said around a swallow as she raised a hand to his chin and urged him to lift his head so she could look him in the eyes.
A glossy coat covered his beautiful browns, and a heartbreaking expression of worry crossed his face.
“Will Hobbs is still in prison. The warden confirmed it,” Wyatt called out since he must’ve realized they had no intention of opening the door.
“But he was with Brandon at TH Crimson before they were both transferred to new facilities in July last year,” he went on.
Roman’s focus remained glued to Harper, neither of them ready to move yet.
“Luke and Jessica will try and convince President Bennett to allow them to go see Will when they talk to him tonight.”
“Oh, and your uncle’s goons are here,” Finn tossed out. “They have instructions to take you. Said there’s been a change of plans. You leave tonight.”